Undersea Boat

The Nautilus
scale unknown

“I am not what you call a civilised man! I have done with society entirely, for reasons which I alone have the right of appreciating. I do not, therefore, obey its laws, and I desire you never to allude to them before me again!”

This unusual model is actually a game piece from the board game "Nemo's War", painted for a friend.  She requested I follow the box art as closely as possible, and I think the resulting deep aqua turned out quite well.  This is a small piece, under 50mm long, but with very good detail for a board game token.

Looks like fun!

Adeptus Caduceus

Space Marine Medic (1988)
25mm scale

Well, this Marine is a real blast from the past... he dates all the way back to my earliest teenage years in the hobby!  He first appeared in the 1988 Citadel catalogue alongside a horde of other charming sculpts:

Space Marines were definitely a different breed back then: a lot less like walking tanks and more like elite soldiers, and the sculpts reflected that.  More personality, fewer skulls and purity seals.  And we walked uphill to school, both ways, it was a golden age, etc.

Anyway, I bought this guy for cheap on eBay many years back, a satisfying score.  His backpack is from the remnants of the old plastic "Beakies" set I keep in my bitz box.  He might not be my best work ever, but I think I captured that old White Dwarf painting style pretty well.

"By the Emperor, I think it might be too late for this one..."

The Return of Javi

Good news, everyone! 

The sculptor and painter I once titled my "Most Loyal Reader" has returned!  After a lengthy (I feared permanent) hiatus, Javi, proprietor of Lazy Minis, has started posting again, with two vibrant and creative offerings in his own inimitable style!  Check out his blog, it's a lot of fun :)

"Beware Contrarium"

"Cool Comeback... Or Not"

Definitely a style apart from mine... but he's got talent, and a real sense of humour!  Javi, don't ever stop :D

A bloodsucker born every minute

Cyberpunk Vampire
28 mm

Before the morning can break we retire
The searing heat of the sun we avoid
Await the dark, proud Walachian fighters
Armata strigoi

I have absolutely no idea where this amazing figure is from; I found it in a bitz bin at Nexus Games in Kingston ON a few years ago.  It's cast in delicate light blue resin with a fair amount of flash, so I don't think it was from a board game:

Anyway I was very excited to finally paint it, and it didn't disappoint!  What a cool character.  He's got a mix of high-tech and medieval style armor, and he's wearing an IV that constantly feeds him blood for that all-night vampire fix...

"You must be new in town!  No wonder you haven't met Mr. Pointy..."

A sucker born every minute

"Kraken" game piece
no scale

I'm happy to say I finished the "Abyss" Kraken game piece in record time!  It helps that it's only three colours, all based on the same blue shade to tie it together... but still.  That's a lot of suckers!  I wanted a murky but richly-colored deep-sea look so I tried to avoid my usual near-white highlights here.  It's a bit shiny; I gave it a durable (I hope) satin clear coat to keep it looking good for many plays.  Fun, and a bit different :)

By His Noodly Appendage

So I went to a New Year's party at a friend's, and received an impromptu request.  She recently got a copy of the board game "Abyss".  The game includes a marker for the Kraken, a game token which, she explains "follows the most unscrupulous player around the board".

So yes, obviously I'm painting this thing!  Looks like a good first project for 2019...

"Raise your hand if you think that was a Russian water tentacle."

Shieldmaiden

Thorrun, Shieldmaiden
28 mm

When I am dead,
Lay me in a mound.
Raise a stone for all to see
Runes carved to my memory

A Bad Squiddo Games figure, from their impressive line of female Vikings.  I think I spent more time on Hurstwic.org doing "research" than I spent painting this figure... gotta be accurate, right?  That said, while I wholly approve of historical revisionism in the name of fun, inclusive gaming, there's not a lot of evidence that Viking women warriors like Thorrun here were common.  And while stories of someone like Freydis Eriksdottir are known, I'm not sure she's what you'd call a good role model for your Norse daughter...

No step on snek.

Oh yes, and...  Merry Christmas, everyone!